‘Our kids believe they’re going to be successful.’ JMU confident heading into second season in Sun Belt

Published Jul. 26, 2023 at 11:19 PM
NEW ORLEANS (WHSV) - The James Madison football program took its turn on the main stage at Sun Belt Football Media Days on Wednesday.
Coming off its debut season in the Sun Belt Conference and as an FBS program, the Dukes football program experienced exponential growth in 2022.
After years of success in the FCS, many wondered how quickly the Dukes could become a relevant program in FBS. It didn’t take long to find out those answers. JMU turned in an 8-3 season in 2022.
“One thing about our program is our kids believe they’re going to be successful. Was I surprised? No I was not surprised,” said JMU head coach Curt Cignetti reflecting on the 2022 season. “I thought we should’ve been 10-1.”
Heading into 2023, JMU was tabbed the preseason favorite to win the Sun Belt East Division. However, Cignetti doesn’t read too much into preseason rankings.
“We’re used to being picked first,” said Cignetti. “We won seven of the last eight conference championships. We’re 48-3 at home over the last seven years. What does that all mean today? Nothing. It’s just an opinion on who will finish first. What counts is at the end of the season.”
JMU returns 13 starters from 2022. Six starters are back on offense and seven starters return on defense. Two of those returnees were at Sun Belt Football Media Days on Wednesday: offensive lineman Nick Kidwell and defensive lineman James Carpenter.
Both players received preseason All-Sun Belt honors but downplayed the individual recognition.
“It’s nice and all but you got to go out there and perform,” said Kidwell. “There’s going to be a target on your back.”
Carpenter has his sights set on 2023.
“We want to go out and have a better year than last year,” said Carpenter. “We had a little lull there in the middle of the season but our goal is to win and that’s the standard at JMU. Our job is to uphold that standard.”